American jazz guitarist John Scofield is celebrating the music of his friend and mentor Steve Swallow with an album titled Swallow Tales. The album features a selection of Swallow’s compositions with Scofield on guitar, Swallow on bass and Bill Stewart on drums.
Swallow’s creations, Scofield explains, “make perfect vehicles for improvisation. The changes are always interesting – but not too interesting! They’re grounded in reality with cadences that make sense. They’re never just intellectual exercises, and they’re so melodic. They’re all songs, rather than ‘pieces.’ They could all be sung.”